Fini Product Features
Feb 17, 2025
Hakim Khalafi
IN this article
With PMF-hacking, you are intentionally micro-pivoting 3-4 times in a short period of time, by running controlled experiments and launching product hypotheses. This removes all anxiety of pivoting since you are doing it on purpose - with the goal of measuring conversions and “pull” from the market.
So you’ve got a startup. You might even have an MVP and a couple of customers, but you can’t really feel the pull from the market. Nobody’s asking for your solution.. not at scale, anyway.
What’s missing?
Product Market Fit
This is the ever-elusive dream of countless entrepreneurs. Many have tried and never achieved it. Even at the top startup accelerator Y Combinator, which we've had the fortune of attending, only a third of startups survive in the long run.
So what is Product Market Fit, and why do so many dreamers chase after this singular goal?
Produt Market Fit is essentially how well your product satisfies market demand.
With PMF, your company stands a chance of success. Without it, there isn’t enough demand and your company will eventually wither and die.
So, how can you, dear dreamer, make sure you reach product-market fit? And most importantly, how can you systematically do it without wasting time building something that will never be wanted - let alone paid for?
Step-by-step approach
To help you with this goal, I am sharing an approach that has worked for us at Fini. I wouldn’t dare claim that our own startup has reached PMF just yet, but these steps would have shortened our exploration by several months.
Assumptions
To follow these steps, you need these things to be true:
You want to maximize chances of success, and minimize risk.
You are creating a B2B SaaS company. Anything else might be too risky in this economic climate.
You have a combination of founders who can build, launch and sell products. This can be done with a business founder and a technical founder. If this is your spouse, twin, or best friend that’s even better - this minimizes the chance of co-founder breakup.
You want to create a category-defining company which is not a 1/1 clone of other companies.
Whew, that’s it to begin with. You may feel this list is too narrow, but it will provide a comforting structure to follow if you want to de-risk your beginnings.
So what’s the secret sauce that allows you to iterate faster towards PMF?
Enter: PMF-hacking
You may have heard of a Minimum Viable Product. What you need to create is a Minimum Payable Product. This MPP is the smallest set of features you can get away with, and still get paid for. The MPP solves the customer problem end-to-end. The goal here is to get paying customers for your hacky solution as quickly as possible and validate that the market exists.
The core method is to achieve this with a PMF-hacking sprint, which is 2 weeks long. This sprint results in a screen-recorded GIF that shows the value of your product in 30 seconds. Then you share this GIF across any and all communities that may have your target customers to measure the demand signal. Here is an example:
The end goal is to run through 3-4 PMF-hacking sprints (resulting in 3-4 different GIFs), measure the demand for each and pick the one product that has the highest potential.
These ideas are not new, they build on top of Eric Ries’s popularization of the MVP. The difference is that this is a more structured, specific and time-bound approach.
Do it like a scientist
Since you will be building 4 different products in 2 months, you won’t be getting too attached to any one particular idea. Through this, you learn to see your ideas as hypotheses only, and your launches become controlled experiments. The ONLY reason you are launching, is to measure the demand signal. Which means you are purposefully creating throw-away software with the goal of seeing how much demand you can generate in terms of raw conversion.
You are doing this to avoid building something that risks not being wanted by customers. It is a VERY common failure mode to spend months and months building some perfect software that ends up with no demand from customers. This is how your startup dies.
Instead, use 2 week PMF-hacking sprints with the goal of creating products that purely measure demand signals.
You do not create your product. Your customers create your product.
This is one of my favorite quotes by serial entrepreneur Alex Hormozi that captures the spirit of this method. Launch quickly, get customer feedback and evolve.
Before the sprint
Decide a target problem you want to address. This is the most important piece. Ideally the problem is in an industry or vertical you are familiar with, and is a problem you’ve seen and solved before.
This should be a hair-on-fire problem. The customers who have this problem need to be so desperate that they are willing to pay a shitty startup to solve it.
Week 1
Build an extremely hacky version of your product that solves the problem. Code it up in one file (try Python + Streamlit), where the database is a local JSON file. This is embarrassingly hacky but the goal is to create a usable product in a single week.
You will NOT be creating extremely robust production-grade software - you haven’t earned that privilege yet. Not a single line of code is important until someone is paying for it.
Create a 30 second GIF capturing the screen, demonstrating exactly how the product works. The good part about keeping it to 30 seconds is that you need to have built a simple enough UI that is easy to understand. The user is only able to do one thing with your product. This makes the product inherently more viral as well - simple to understand is easier to market, and easier to scale later.
The product should be in a state of minimal self-service. Eg. your users land on your product page and quickly get the kernel of value they are looking for without needing to be told what to do by a human.
Week 2
This is your launch week. Post your 30 second gif everywhere - LinkedIn, Reddit, Slack Communities, Heck you might even try Facebook groups/Instagram/TikTok if you have to. All of these should contain your target audiences.
Make sure you give your posts at least 5 days to land. People are busy - give them some time to react and reach out.
Measure the conversion numbers. How many views result in clicks? How many clicks result in comments? How many of those sign up with email? How many email signups result in Logins? How many logins convert to Demos? How many Demos convert to Paid usage? You can get scientific about this and meticulously track everything in a spreadsheet.
By the end of the week you should have a pretty firm grasp of how strong demand is for your product hypothesis, and some feedback from potential early customers. If the software is useful, there will be buzz around your product. If you get as far as paid usage, you can manually send your first customers Stripe links.
Repeat 3-4 times
In the startup world founders sometimes talk about pivoting. This is a dreaded time in which founders give up a previous idea or product, and decide for a completely new direction. This time is typically filled with pain, anxiety and worries of failure.
With PMF-hacking, you are intentionally micro-pivoting 3-4 times in a short period of time, by running controlled experiments and launching product hypotheses. This removes all anxiety of pivoting since you are doing it on purpose - with the goal of measuring conversions and “pull” from the market.
This method isn't entirely risk free by the way, you still need Sales and Product engineering skills strong enough to generate initial signal. Otherwise you might as well do 10 repetitions of this method and still get nowhere. Fear not however, as each iteration will give you a serious dose of learning and propel you forward.
Choosing your winner
In reality, it will be pretty obvious when you’ve found a winner from this exercise. Most likely, all of those hypotheses will have 0 paying customers.
However, some of them may have had better conversion numbers. Some may have created ongoing discussions with potential customers who are very excited about what you’re creating. One of the ideas may even have a customer who wants to pay for a more developed version - you know you’re nearing this when there is talk of contracting.
In the end, when we ran through this exercise we launched 3 or so GIFs, with little to no demand. Some of them had demand but we couldn’t build a self-service product in time for the customers to realize the value quickly enough.
However, something magical happened with the 4th and last launch we tried. We were able to create a self-service free trial product which shows product value within seconds. After this, things went on autopilot - signing customers, evolving the software, building features based on demand, and billing. We have now finally earned the privilege of building a production version of our product!
That’s it!
Happy hacking from team Fini.
Understanding Product Market Fit
1. What is Product Market Fit?
Product Market Fit (PMF) is the point where your product satisfies a strong market demand. It’s when users genuinely want your product, use it repeatedly, and are even willing to pay for it. At this stage, growth becomes easier and more organic because your solution deeply resonates with the target market.
2. Why is achieving Product Market Fit so difficult?
PMF is hard because it requires both building the right product and finding the right market. Most startups either overbuild without validating demand or target markets that don’t urgently need a solution. PMF demands fast iteration and brutal honesty from founders.
3. How do I know if I’ve achieved PMF?
You know you’ve achieved PMF when customers are actively pulling the product from you. Signs include rapid user growth, low churn, high engagement, repeat usage, and customers converting without heavy sales pushes.
4. What happens if I don’t reach Product Market Fit?
Without PMF, your startup will likely struggle with growth and retention, leading to wasted time, funding, and ultimately failure. It’s the most crucial milestone to validate before scaling.
5. How is PMF different from MVP?
An MVP is an early, minimal version of your product to test basic assumptions. PMF means your MVP (or an evolved version) is proven to satisfy a real, growing need. MVP is about building quickly, PMF is about proving demand.
PMF-Hacking Framework
6. What is PMF-hacking?
PMF-hacking is a structured method for rapidly testing product ideas in 2-week sprints. It involves launching micro-products, gathering real user feedback, and using demand signals to iterate toward PMF with purpose.
7. Why does Fini recommend PMF-hacking?
At Fini, we believe PMF-hacking shortens the exploration phase. It encourages fast experimentation without emotional attachment to any single idea and removes the fear of pivoting by making it a scientific, repeatable process.
8. What is the goal of each PMF-hacking sprint?
Each sprint should produce a 30-second screen-recorded GIF demonstrating the product’s core value, which is then shared publicly to measure traction, conversion, and customer excitement.
9. How many sprints should I run?
Typically, 3 to 4 PMF-hacking sprints are recommended. Each should test a different product hypothesis and target a hair-on-fire problem in a market you understand.
10. What’s the difference between a pivot and a micro-pivot?
A full pivot changes the direction of your startup. A micro-pivot, in the PMF-hacking context, is an intentional, low-stakes idea shift used to test new hypotheses quickly.
Building Your MVP or MPP
11. What is a Minimum Payable Product (MPP)?
An MPP is the smallest possible version of your product that customers will actually pay for. Unlike an MVP, the MPP must deliver core value end-to-end, proving willingness to pay.
12. How simple should my first version be?
Embarrassingly simple. It can be coded in a single file using tools like Streamlit and Python with a JSON file as a database. The goal is speed, not scale.
13. How do I make my product self-service from day one?
Design it so users can sign up and derive value without manual help. A good indicator is if your 30-second demo clearly communicates the product’s value and how to use it.
14. Why is simplicity so important in the early stage?
A simple product is easier to understand, easier to market, and faster to test. Simplicity increases clarity for users and reduces your time-to-feedback cycle.
15. Can I launch before the product is fully functional?
Yes, as long as your demo communicates the core value clearly and sets honest expectations. The goal is to measure interest, not to provide a perfect experience yet.
Launching and Measuring Demand
16. Where should I post my product demo?
Anywhere your target audience hangs out: LinkedIn, Reddit, Twitter, Slack groups, niche forums, and even TikTok. Prioritize reach and relevance.
17. How do I measure traction from my launch?
Track metrics like views, clicks, sign-ups, logins, demo requests, and payment interest. Use a spreadsheet to follow each step in the funnel and compare across launches.
18. How long should I wait to analyze post-launch feedback?
Give each launch at least 5 days to gather organic traction and feedback. Immediate results may be misleading due to noise or lack of exposure.
19. What kind of feedback signals strong interest?
Strong signals include follow-up questions, requests for access, attempts to use the product, and people asking how to pay or integrate the tool.
20. What if a launch fails to get attention?
That’s expected sometimes. Treat it as a data point. Review your messaging, the problem you’re solving, and the distribution channel, then adjust your next hypothesis.
Customer Conversations and Validation
21. What is a “hair-on-fire” problem?
It’s a problem so urgent that customers will pay anyone—even a new startup—to solve it. These are the best problems to target during early validation.
22. How many customer interviews should I do?
Aim for 5–10 interviews per hypothesis. The goal is qualitative insight, not statistical confidence. Listen for patterns in pain points and willingness to pay.
23. Should I change features based on every comment?
No, prioritize feedback that’s repeated across multiple users. Avoid overfitting the product to one or two opinions that may not generalize.
24. How do I know when feedback is actionable?
If customers express willingness to use or pay for the product immediately—or suggest minor tweaks that make it usable—that feedback is gold.
25. How do I handle negative feedback?
Welcome it. Negative feedback helps you invalidate weak ideas quickly, so you can move on to better ones. It's part of the process.
Deciding on the Winning Idea
26. What signals show I've found a winner?
Look for consistent excitement, users asking for access, multiple follow-up messages, and at least one user offering to pay. A winning idea generates momentum naturally.
27. Can you find PMF without revenue?
Yes, in some cases—especially with free products or network effects. But revenue is the strongest signal. If people won’t pay, be skeptical.
28. What if multiple ideas get traction?
Prioritize based on conversion rates, market size, and your ability to build a sustainable business around it. Traction is good, but not all traction is equal.
29. How do I avoid falling in love with the wrong idea?
Stick to the framework. Every idea is just a hypothesis until it’s validated. Measure demand objectively and don’t get emotionally attached too early.
30. When should I stop iterating?
Stop once you’ve validated strong demand and can clearly see a path to repeatable growth. At that point, shift from testing to building.
Common Mistakes and Myths
31. Why do most startups miss PMF?
They build too much without testing, fall in love with their ideas, or ignore weak traction. PMF requires humility, speed, and scientific thinking.
32. Is building in stealth mode helpful?
Rarely. Most ideas die from obscurity, not theft. Share openly to gather feedback and create buzz—especially during early validation.
33. Should I raise funds before PMF?
Only if necessary. Without PMF, you're raising based on a story, not evidence. It’s better to validate demand before scaling or fundraising.
34. Can I find PMF in a small niche?
Yes, but ensure the niche is large enough to support your business goals—or use it as a beachhead market to expand from later.
35. Do I need a technical co-founder to run PMF-hacking?
Ideally yes, but low-code tools and scrappy solutions can get you surprisingly far. Focus on speed and outcomes, not perfect code.
Final Stage: Transitioning From Hacking to Scaling
36. What happens after I find PMF?
Double down. Start building more robust infrastructure, automate onboarding, invest in retention, and consider fundraising to scale.
37. How should I hire post-PMF?
Hire for product and GTM roles that help you scale what’s working. Avoid bloating the team with speculative hires before traction is clear.
38. How can I preserve agility after PMF?
Keep experimenting in smaller loops. Assign teams to test features or markets in PMF-hacking style even as you scale the core product.
39. When do I build a full production version?
Once users are paying and relying on the product consistently. At that point, reliability and scalability become top priorities.
40. Can I apply this method to other stages of the business?
Absolutely. PMF-hacking principles apply to testing features, pricing models, GTM strategies, and more. Think like a scientist, always.
Co-founder
